Ludger Rémy and CPO caused quite a surprise when in 2003 they
presented the
St John Passion by Georg Gebel the Younger,
a composer very few people had ever heard of. The surprise was
even bigger when this work turned out to be of exceptional quality
as I expressed in
my
review. Later that year
another
disc was released, with oratorios for Christmas and New Year,
which generally confirmed that Gebel was a very good composer.
Since then not much seems to have happened. The commemoration
of his birth in 2009 was a good reason to turn the attention to
Gebel once again, and this has resulted in a recording and a public
performance of two cantatas for the Christmas period. The addition
of "Vol. 1" to the title indicates that more is to come.
On the internet I saw that a second volume has already been released.
I am looking forward to it, because this disc proves once again
that Gebel is a really great composer.
If you are looking for nice music which reflects the spirit of
Christmas - probably even in a more or less 'romantic' way - then
you will be disappointed. You won't find any melodies of Christmas
hymns or carols here. Despite the picture at the cover these two
cantatas hardly deal with the birth of Christ and the following
events as described in the Gospels. They belong to the 62 extant
cantatas from Gebels annual cantata cycle of 1747/48.
Verfolge mich, o Welt is for the Second Day of Christmas,
and was probably performed on Tuesday, 26 December 1747 - the
English translation has erroneously September. This was also St
Stephen's Day, the commemoration of the death of St Stephen, the
first Christian martyr, as reported by the Acts of the Apostles
(Ch 7). That is also the subject of the cantata. It is in two
sections, to be performed before and after the sermon. It begins
with a chorale setting which is followed by a chorus on verse
7 from Psalm 3: "I am not afraid of many hundred thousands
who position themselves around against me". It is homophonic,
introduced and closed by the strings. The tenor of this chorus
is then extended in the next arias. The bass aria expresses the
thought that "enemy and deceit are bound", whereas the
tenor aria says: "Under my Jesus' protection I offer defiance
to all foes". The chorale which closes the first part refers
to the upcoming death of Stephen: "Farewell, O world, farewell,
you my foes!". The emotional highlight of the cantata follows
in the second part, when the alto - representing Stephen - asks:
"Lord Jesus! Take up my spirit!" (Acts of the Apostles
7,58). A strong contrast follows in the defiant tenor aria: "No
matter what! If people want to take my life, my spirit will not
be upset". Then Stephen returns with a long aria: "Redeem
my soul, Emanuel, from this pit of torment!". It is a piece
of extraordinary depth, full of
Seufzer, pizzicati in the
low strings and rhetorical pauses. The hardship of Stephen's course
of life is drastically expressed in slow and heavy steps in both
vocal and instrumental parts. Remarkable is also the obbligato
part for the oboe. The cantata has a link to Christmas after all:
the mention of Emanuel refers to the prophesies of Isaiah who
refers to the coming Christ as Emanuel.
The second cantata,
Gott Lob! mein Jesus macht mich rein,
is for the Sunday after Christmas, and that was 31 December in
1747. It is not, as one may expect, devoted to the end of the
year, but rather concentrates on the effect of Jesus' coming and
in particular his suffering and death. The title summarizes the
content: "Praise God! My Jesus makes me pure". The central
thought is that thanks to Jesus' passion and death the faithful
have been promoted from servants to children. The cantata, which
is again in two sections, opens with a chorale, and then another
verse from the Bible is quoted: "Christ has redeemed us from
the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians
3,13). It is introduced by broad gestures in the strings. The
second section is a fugue with harmonic progressions which are
quite remarkable for Gebel's time, to put it mildly. The alto
aria expresses the hardship of the people living before Christ's
coming: they "had to spend their lives in toil". Remarkable
is that Gebel closes the B-part with an accompanied recitative
on the words "the mere word Cursed! did stand". In this
aria Gebel makes again effective use of
Seufzer and the
word "mühsam" (toilsome) is followed by a general pause.
The alto recitative refers to Christ as replacement of Moses,
and the following aria states that "the guardianship is abolished".
There is a strong contrast in tempo and rhythm between the A and
the B part. The message of this cantata is emphasized in the second
part in another quotation from the Bible: "But as many as
received him, to them he gave power to become God's children,
those who believed in his name" (John 1,12). An almost naive
soprano aria expresses the joy of being "children come of
age". The bass aria has a triumphant character: "What
nobility to be God's child and heir!". The strings are joined
here to good effect by two horns. The cantata closes with two
stanzas of a chorale.
It is true, as Manfred Fechner states in his liner-notes, that
Gebel was in many ways a 'modern' composer who embraced the musical
fashion of his time. But whereas some sacred music from the post-Bach
generation tends to be a little superficial, Gebel's compositions
are of remarkably expressive depth and sincerity. He is a master
in the translation of a text into music, as the two cantatas on
this disc prove. The alto aria from the first cantata I have mentioned
is the most striking and the highlight of this whole disc. Britta
Schwarz sings it with great sensitivity, bringing out all the
emotion it contains. The other soloists also deliver fine performances.
Veronika Winter catches the character of her only aria perfectly,
and Matthias Vieweg deals well with the triumphant closing aria
of the second cantata. Andreas Post makes a particularly good
impression with his delivery, and gives an eloquent reading of
the aria 'Immerhin! immerhin!' in the first cantata.
Ludger Rémy has opted for a small vocal scoring. In the tutti
the soloists are joined by the four members of Cantus Wettinianus
Dresden, acting as
ripienists. The instrumental ensemble
is rather small as well, with six violins and three violas. The
oboist Luise Haugk deserves special mention for her beautiful
performance of her obbligato role.
Rather then meeting the desire for discs with a typical 'Christmas
spirit', this disc sheds light on how the Christmas period was
celebrated in Lutheran Germany. It also underlines that Georg
Gebel is a true master of his time.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Veronika Winter (soprano), Britta Schwarz (contralto), Andreas Post
(tenor), Matthias Vieweg (bass); Cantus Wettinianus Dresden; Les
Amis de Philippe/Ludger Rémy 
